Promise of change
by NostalgicUniverse
Summary: A/U A/H: Set in 1760. Klaus Mikaelson is unable to figure out why his wife is not warming up to him even with all of his efforts. Andrea Mikaelson has a secret which she is willing to take to her grave to protect herself, her husband and sis-in-law Rebekah Labanoir who happens to be her husband's sister too. Story about love, family, sacrifice and protection.
1. Chapter 1 Introduction

Niklaus Mikaelson, a wealthy landowner in England, 1760 is unable to understand why his wife Andrea Mikaelson not warming towards him. During the struggle to understand her, he finds out the darkest secrets of her life even though he had known her for the past 8 years.

Adrea Mikaelson DOB - 1744

Klaus Mikaelson DOB - 1735

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_**A/N: Using Andrea for Hayley in this story. Andrea sounds more classic lol**_


	2. Chapter 2 Darkest secrets

_**A/N: TD I hope you questions are answered in this chapter. **_

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Craig said "Niklaus, I like your sister and she likes me. I want to get married to her."

Klaus stared at him and then coming out of shock he asked "what?"

Craig said "yes Niklaus, How long have we been friends? you must know by now that I love her."

Klaus said "a long time but Craig …" unable to finish his sentence.

Craig said "what is the problem then? You know me. I know Rebekah. She knows me. And I have been thinking about Andrea too."

His heart skipped a beat but he asked "what about her?"

Craig smiled and said "don't be modest. I know you love Andrea."

He asked feeling flustered "how?

Craig smiled and said "well I have known you since past eight years so yes I know you from inside out. I know you will never ask her hand in marriage because of the age difference between you two but what if you get married to her and I get married to Rebekah. Will that be acceptable to you?"

Klaus said shocked at that proposal "is that some kind of deal?"

Craig said "no Niklaus. It is a chance for both of us to get what we want. This is an excellent opportunity for us to live our lives with people whom we love."

Klaus said "give me some time to think about it."

Craig said now offended "really? you have to think about accepting your sister's proposal by your best friend or is it because I am a yeomen?"

He hastily said "no, that is not it. I just dont feel comfortable with agreeing to marry Andrea. She is still very young- in fact a lot younger than me…" but Craig cut him off by saying "she is young but she has to get married. After father's death, she is my responsibility. I cannot get married without making sure that her future is safe. She is taught well and will be an excellent wife to you. I want her to be married before me and I cannot wait any longer. If you don't get married to her then I can always look for someone else."

Before he could stop himself the words were out "no"

Craig said smiling "good. Then I will announce my engagement to Rebekah tonight and Andrea's to you and next month one day after her marriage, I will get married to Rebekah. Deal?"

Klaus felt trapped. On one hand he knew Andrea was much younger to him but on the other hand the very thought that she could be married to someone else was pinching him more then he had ever thought. He said "Craig give me till tomorrow to think about."

Craig looked towards him and said "fine. But remember lord Tyler had asked her hand in marriage."

Klaus said at once "he is too old Craig."

Craig said "but he is a lord."

Klaus said "no Craig, you cannot do this to her."

Craig said helplessly "then decide Niklaus."

Klaus continued to stare at his determined face and then nodded.

That night when Klaus slept on his bed, he thought about Rebekah and Craig. On one hand he had known Craig for the past eight years and he liked him but he knew that he had a temper problem but on other hand he also realized that his sister will never get a better proposal then Craig and with Elijah gone to serve in the king's army he was Rebekah's only caregiver and she was of marriageable age. He needed to find some suitor for her but Craig? He had never thought that their worlds will come together like this and Andrea ? It is true that he had been in love with her for the past five years but seeing the age difference and her being his friend's sister, he knew he will never be able to have her. Is Craig right? Can he get the woman he loves? Will he be able to keep her happy? Thinking about his future, Rebekah's future, Andrea's future he at last drifted off to sleep.

Next time when his eyes opened the first thought was that at least Rebekah will get to spend her life with someone who loves her. Craig loves her and that he had witnessed and he himself will not be able to live seeing Andrea with someone else seeing that Craig and he are going to become family through his marriage to Rebekah.

**_One month later:_**

She was pacing her room thinking about the wedding ceremony a day later, thinking about her and Klaus, Rebekah and Craig and then with determination she put on her hat and headed out.

He had a lot to do before wedding ceremony and there was some paperwork about his land to be dealt with but his mind was constantly on Andrea. Doubts had started to set in his mind about his marriage to Andrea. He was thinking _'she is only sixteen years old….' _when he startled as he heard a voice say "Niklaus, I…"

Klaus looked towards her and asked in confusion "Andrea, what are you doing here?"

His confusion changed to surprise. As he watched she said twisting her fingers "I need to talk to you…"

He asked as a thought occurred to him "do you not want to get married to me?"

From the quiet on her side, he continued "if you don't want to Andrea, tell me. I will talk to Craig. He will understand."

She shook her head hastily confusing him further. He asked "then what is it?"

He looked at the reluctance on her face and stepped towards her but stopped as she stepped back causing him to narrow his eyes. She stuttered "Rebekah and Craig shouldnt be married."

Whatever it was he was not expecting this. He asked surprise "why?"

She opened her mouth to say something when he said "if it is because you dont want to get married to me Andrea then tell me."

She said "no Klaus.. Niklaus…"

He said smiling "I like hearing Klaus from you mouth, Andrea."

He impulsively grabbed her hand making her jump. She yanked her hand away, turned around and left leaving him bewildered and wondering _'maybe he shouldnt have held her hand. For the past one month of their betrothal they had not interacted and suddenly he is being physical with her.'_

His thoughts were interrupted when Rebekah came in and asked in the same whinny voice she had been using for the past one month "why can't Elijah make it?"

Klaus smiled saying "he couldn't get the leave Rebekah."

Rebekah said pouting "yes I know that but it is only once that his brother and sister are getting married. Anyway Let go have dinner."

Klaus still reeling with what Andrea had said to him asked "Rebekah are you happy with Craig?"

He smiled as he saw her cheek getting red. Rebekah said "yes I am. I am very happy."

Klaus said "I have been thinking that even though I know Craig for a long time but maybe we should…" but he was cut off by Rebekah who stepped towards him and said softy "Nik, this wedding has to happen now."

It took a moment for Klaus to understand what she said. He asked recovering from shock "what? when?"

Rebekah said "I just found out this morning. Even Craig does not know but he wants to have children with him."

He sighed knowing well that even though he had only wanted to postpone the wedding but with this development nothing could be done. He hugged Rebekah, kissed her and said "well celebrations are in order. Lets go. I want to have an early night. I have tons to do tomorrow."

Rebekah smiled saying "yes you have. At last you are getting the love of your life. If it were not for Craig you wouldn't have even taken any step."

Klaus laughed saying "I would have. And does everyone know that I like her."

She shook her head saying "_no_. Everyone knows that _you love her. _Well except for her. I am curious in finding out her reaction when you will finally tell her tomorrow" as she walked out of the room.

After dinner he went to sleep thinking about what Andrea had said to him, how her hand had felt in his even if it was just for a second and the news Rebekah had told him. He said to himself _"why is he surprised? he should have expected it. They were betrothed and Rebekah is twenty one not sixteen like Andrea."_

Next day he was busy taking a round of his land so by the time he got home, it was almost the time of the ceremony. He felt relieved that Rebekah and Maria had taken care of arranging tea and refreshments for after wedding celebration. He changed into a brand new set of clothes that Rebekah had put on his bed and went towards the chapel with Rebekah dressed in a beautiful pink formal dress.

His heart skipped a beat seeing her in a full sleeves light blue dress with a hat with attached veil. He wondered _when has he seen in a formal dress_ but none came to his mind. When the priest performed the ceremony, he could see the nervousness by the shaking of her hands. The look of shock on her face when he slipped a ring in her finger was priceless. When he leaned in to kiss her, he felt as if there were only two people in that chapel.

Later that night even though he got lost in drinking and celebrating with his friends while Rebekah took Andrea with her friends and got lost in a crowd gathered in great hall in his house, his eyes were constantly on her. Much later when all his friends left he went to his room thinking about how to start his life with her. As he entered his room, he saw a few candle lit and the fire burning in the fireplace. He looked towards her looking at one of his paintings hanging on the wall. He closed the door and walked to her.

Andrea was looking at the painting of the village on the wall wondering _what life would be like with Klaus. She has known him for the past eight years but knowing someone and living with them were two different things._ She startled as she felt a hand slip into hers. Her first instinct was to snatch it away but then she remembered that she was his wife. He can do anything with her now. The thought just raced her heart.

He said softly caressing her fingers "Andrea, I know this marriage was unexpected. I am well aware of the huge age difference between us but I promise that I will be a good husband to you and you will be loved."

Andrea almost jumped when he softly kissed her fingers.

He saw wonder in her eyes and asked softly "you have never been courted right?"

She said, turning red "no."

He said "I am surprised but their loss."

He smiled broadly this time when she blushed. He stepped closer and said "do you know what is going to happen?"

She slowly nodded her head saying "your mother told me when I became a woman."

He said reminiscing "she loved you."

Andrea smiled this time and said "I loved her too. She had been a mother to me since mine died."

He squeezed her hand, looking into her suddenly sad eyes. Noticing the tension oozing out of her fingers, he wondered is it because of the marriage or because she is afraid what is going to happen. Hoping it was the later he decided to take small steps so as to make her comfortable with him first.

He said "why dont you change and we can sleep."

He started to move away from her when he felt a tug at his hand. He looked towards her when she asked looking confused "you are not going to make me your wife?"

As soon as the words were out he saw her cheeks burning. He, who was already having difficulty controlling his urges was unable to explain why he was holding back. When he didnt say anything she asked twisting her fingers "may I ask why?"

Klaus said hastily "Andrea, I really want to. I just think that maybe we should get comfortable with each other first."

Andrea said still confused "oh but what if someone asks me."

He asked impulsively stepping towards her "Andrea do you want me to …"

His words lingered for a few silent seconds and then she nodded shyly. He looked at her face thoughtfully for a second and then nodded too. His hands slipped to her upper arms, he pulled her towards him and brushed his lips with hers.

Andrea felt as if all energy got drained from her body. She knew that if he were not holding her she would have crumbled down on the floor. Suddenly she felt him deepening the kiss as his tongue parted her lips and entered her mouth to her surprise. She didnt know how but a sound escaped her mouth. He broke the kiss and smiled. He turned her around and started untying the strings on her dress fastening her heartbeat. When he was done, he slipped the dress off her shoulders making it pool on her feet. He rolled his eyes impatiently as he saw the corset. He started to untie it more impatiently now. Now she was just in her shift.

Andrea felt very self-consciously but then yelped as he scooped her up and carried her to his bed. He took off his shirt while keeping eye contact wit her and laid next to her. He asked "nervous?"

When she nodded, he smiled and said "don't be. I will not hurt you."

He started to lift her shift up keeping his eyes fixed on her face. The lip biting, the nervousness, the hesitation, her hand twitching was arousing him. When it came off, his eyes went from her face to her naked breast and his heart skipped a beat.

He pulled the blanket over them and took off his breaches too.

Andrea started to feel very nervous even though she knew deep in her heart that Klaus will never hurt her. She looked into his eyes and tried to smile. She hoped she managed it because it seemed to her that her jaw got locked. She jumped out of her skin when his fingers started tracing her body from her neck down to her flat stomach while his eyes were fixed on her face. Seeing her flinch he said "what we are doing is pretty natural Andrea."

When she nodded he leaned in and kissed her. As his body touched hers, it made her flinch. She didnt know what to do about all the nervousness so she grabbed on to the bed sheet. As his lips moved down to her neck and then down she squirmed. When they reached her breast a sound escaped her mouth which she realized was a moan.

He couldn't believe he was kissing her. Never having thought about actually making her his wife. He smiled when he heard a moan from her mouth when he kissed her breast and impulsively he kissed the peeks causing her body to jerk under his. He gently squeezed her other breast and continued tasting her breast making her utter "oh Kla…us…"

Andrea hands moved to the pillow as a shot of pleasure erupted through her body. She wished he would never stop but then he stopped.

He looked at her face and saw her innermost naked desire on her face. He bend his face down again and continued kissing her breast and then moved down and repeated everything on her stomach. The way her body was twisting and squirming was making him very hard. He suddenly couldnt hold it anymore so he shifted up, coming face to face to her, kissed her lips and then with his knees parted her legs.

He whispered against her lips caressing her cheek "it will hurt just a bit. Just hold onto me."

At once he felt her hand go to his back making him smile. He touched her lips with his and slowly slipped in her. He heard a gasp against his lips but kept holding her and kissing. He whispered against her lips "just relax."

Andrea tried to relax and just concentrate on his lips against her lips and managed that. A second later, she felt as if she was flying and she moaned again causing Klaus to smile. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. They had gone glassy. He continued to move against her and cradled her head as she uttered "oh God, what is happening?" and her eyes closed.

He whispered "just relax."

Feeling her body relaxing his hand went to her naked thigh and he lifted it a bit and penetrated farther.

Andrea didnt know what happened but her body arched impulsively and her grip on his shoulder tightened.

He felt the pinch on his shoulders and said "keep your legs like this" and let go of her thigh. He balanced himself on his elbows and twined his fingers in her hair and continued rocking looking at her face. She had her eyes closed and was biting her lips to control the moaning. Suddenly he felt her fingers digging harder into her skin and she panted "Klaus…" and bit her lips.

He leaned in and gave her a soft but long kiss as he himself finished.

Andrea thought that she has lost all energy in her body. She still couldn't find the strength to open her eyes. But when she felt his cold fingers on her cheek making her snap her eyes open. She felt his hand on her thigh and he pulled it down. The smile on his face made flutter in her stomach. She could still feel him in her. He asked caressing her skin "are you alright?"

When she nodded, he kissed her on her forehead and whispered "I love you." He pulled himself out slowly seeing the shocked expressions on her face.

She recovered from the shock and said "I…" but he put his hand on her lips saying "I meant it what I said. I have loved your for a long time but I would never have thought of this marriage because of you being my best friend's sister and much younger to me. I don't want you to say these words to me unless you mean them and I will wait for that day to come when you will want to say these words to me."

He rolled over from her and pulled her in a warm hug after pulling the covers over them.

While he went to sleep Andrea stayed awake still reeling with what they had done, and what he had admitted to her. She wondered how is it possible? How can he love her? She felt so overwhelmed by all of this that her eyes watered. She looked towards him sleeping peacefully recalling how carefully and lovingly he had treated her body. She wondered _'if only he knew that she was not used to this kind of love and affection.'_

As soon as the thought crossed her mind the flicker of light in darkness she has been starting to see for the past one month became reality. She felt relieved that she was free of Craig but then she recalled that Klaus was after all Craig's friend and she has been seeing them together for the past 8 years. Who knows what kind of man he is within the confines of his house? What if he turns out to be like Craig? What if Craig treats Rebekah like he treated her? I hope not. She said to herself and closed her eyes and let the tears fall from her eyes at the overwhelming realization of who she has become and what does becoming his wife means. Suddenly she felt his hand touching her naked breast and she flinched at once but then forcefully tried to calm herself down.

Next morning when he woke up she was not next to him. He wondered _when did she get up?_ He got up, took a quick bath, changed and left the room. When he entered the small kitchen he saw her working with his servant- Maria. He said "Andrea, can I talk to you?"

When she followed him into the great hall, he held her hand and looking into her eyes he asked "how are you feeling?"

Andrea blushed as realization of his question dawned on but only nodded with a shy smile.

He smiled, kissed her gently on her lips, squeezed her hands and said "I have tons to do at the farm and then preparing for the afternoon. Will be back by the time of the ceremony. Be ready. Rebekah will be up in a while."

When she nodded her left.

She spend the day with Rebekah preparing things for the afternoon. By the time evening came, Andrea was bored out of mind with nothing to do all day as Rebekah told her not to do anything. She had spend most of her day making sure Rebekah things were ready for afternoon, thinking about how to become a good wife to Klaus, and for that she only knew one thing she could do and that was to take care of his house but Rebekah was not letting her do anything. She sighed in frustration as she thought _'if Maria and Anna will do all the work then what is she going to do with all of her time.' _As the time was approaching she was getting really tense at the prospect of seeing him again. She felt like screaming to Klaus to not let this happen but she knew it was not possible at the very last moment. She stood in the chapel helplessly as she saw the priest wed them. Seeing the smile on both of their faces she prayed for the things to turn out for the best for both of them. Suddenly she startled as she felt his fingers touching hers. She looked towards him and caught him looking at her.

Klaus noticed that the smile had not reached her eyes. He wondered _what is going on with her? _

After Rebekah and Craig left a couple of his fiends cornered him and invited themselves to his home for tea and he being a generous host hosted them.

By the time they left it was quiet later. He said to her "you go. I will be back in a minute."

She changed her clothes with heavy heart. She wondered why was she feeling that way? Klaus had been wonderful to her but the she realized that Rebekah and Craig's wedding was bringing her down.

He checked the doors even though Jacob, the guard, had already locked them and then headed to his room. When entered the room, she had already changed her clothes, there was no candles but the oil lamp was burning and the fireplace was blazing too while she was sitting on the bed. He walked to her smiling, pulled her to her feet and leaned in to kiss her but seeing how stiff her body had suddenly gotten he stepped back in confusion.

Andrea felt flustered and hastily said "I…"

Klaus said "I was just kissing you."

She said feeling embarrassed "yes, I know. I dont know what happened."

He continued to look at her face and then pulled her towards him and kissed her. This time he, probably was noticing her reaction, noted that she was really tense worse than last night. He wondered _'what is going on? She was fine last night. May be she got hurt.'_

He broke the kiss and asked softly "Andrea, are you hurting?"

She asked feeling confused "from what?"

He said "last night…"

She felt her cheek burning up and hastily said "no. I was just…"

He asked "what?"

When she didn't reply he asked again "what?"

She said reluctantly "I am just tired with everything going on since yesterday."

He suddenly laughed embarrassing her and then said "is that all? We can just lie then."

She looked at him in shock and hastily said "no. If you want to, we can…"

The smile slipped from his face. He held her hand and said "Andrea I will never force myself on you. If you don't want to ever then you can always tell me."

and went to lie on the bed leaving her confused.

A few minutes later, he felt her getting next to him. He spread his arm on the pillow so that she can rest her head on it and wondered _'why has he given her a choice? It is his right to make love to her whenever he wants to. Maybe this age difference is making him considerate towards her. And he was after all supposed to protect her so why not?' _While Klaus was lost in thought, Andrea was lost in hers too.

**_Flashback Andrea_**

**_five years ago_**

_She heard her mother say "I have to take the pot off the stove. Will be back…"_

_But before she could finish her sentence, Andrea heard a loud smack making her jump. She hastily looked towards Craig but he was just lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. She moved to the corner and sat down hugging her legs as she heard her mother's yelp. She buried her head in her knees and put a hand on her mouth as she heard her father roar "how dare you? Come here."_

_She put her hands on her ears but couldnt block the screams of her mother and her father shouting over them "you are my wife. Whenever I ask you to have sex with me you will. Now shut up." and then the screams started to subside. _

_She stayed there unable to move making sure not to make as single sound not knowing the tears were running down her cheeks. At last she looked up and saw Craig was still lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. _

**_End flashback _**

She impulsively snuggled close to him and closed her eyes absorbing the tears within her eyelashes. Before she knew it she drifted off to sleep.

From the even shallow breathing he realized that she had gone to sleep. He fixed the blanket on them, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. He was fast asleep when he heard a loud scream startling him awake. He looked towards Andrea and in the firelight and saw her drenched in sweat and shaking her head in her sleep. He held her, shook her waking her up saying "Andrea wake up love, you are dreaming."

He gently patted her cheeks and shook her making her snap her eyes open. There was so much terror on her face that shook him to core. He said soothingly "it was just a dream. You are safe."

He felt a jerk through his body as her arms wrapped around him tightly and she buried her face, covered in tears mingled with her sweat, in his chest. He recovered, wrapped his arm around her trembling body and laid down bringing her down with him. After a few silent moments he asked "do you want to talk about it?"

Taken by surprise she shook her head wondering '_how could she tell him how she had witnessed her father forcing himself on her mother while she and Craig were made to watch or listen to.' _

After a few moments from the shallow rhythmic breathing he realized that she had gone to sleep. He kept on holding her with her head snuggled against his chest and after a while went to sleep too.

For the next few days he noticed the lingering affect of that nightmare she had seen and every time he asked her she would just close up so he had eventually stopped asking her but didn't stop wondering _'what could she have seen?'_

A week after that night he was lying next to her staring at the ceiling when he ideally turned to her and asked "how are you feeling?"

She said surprised "me? I am good. Why do you ask?"

He said "I am not sleepy."

She said "me neither…ohhh" as realization dawned on her when the back of his right hand fingers brushed against her cheek. When she didnt say anything else he leaned in and kissed her. He was kissing her lips with his hand on her small breast fondling it when he suddenly noticed that her hands were on her side but she didnt protest so he continued kissing her. He felt relieved when they eventually moved to his back.

Andrea laid there unable to take his kisses and impulsively grabbed his back, felt like moving them on his back as he slipped into her but lost the courage and just kept them there while he rocked in her taking her to a new high.

He raised himself up and removing the wild strand of hair from her forehead he gently kissed her on her lips lingering his lips there for a moment and asked "are you alright?"

She asked smiling "why do you ask me that?"

Klaus was about to say something when she said "no, forget I asked. I shouldn't have."

He wondered _'is that fear on her face or apprehension?'_

He rolled over from her felling on the bed next to her and said "you can ask me or tell me anything if you want to. I ask you this because I love you and I don't want to hurt you. _We are married_ but I have not forgotten that you are still very young."

She suddenly felt overwhelmed, turned to him and said "I am not that young. Women my age are becoming mothers."

He smiled saying, hoping that might make the sadness on her face disappear "is that what you want too love?"

He laughed when she turned crimson. He pulled her towards him and said "I am just joking. Yes I know. I just want to make sure you are alright."

She knew that if she would say anything she would start crying so she just nodded against his chest enjoying his arms around her.

Next morning when he woke up she was already up. He wondered _'how is that she is always up before him?'_ but then seeing her dressed in a semi-formal dress he remembered that it was Sunday so he got up and got ready for the church too. During the sermon, he noticed that she looked distracted. Her expressions confusing him as always. Following her gaze he saw her looking towards Craig and Rebekah. After the church, men and women gathered in the field and mingled. He spotted her with Rebekah and for the first time since morning he saw her smiling. He turned back to Craig and said "why dont you visit in the afternoon? It will be nice to catch up. Ever since Rebekah has been married, she has not visited."

Craig said "sure. I have one thing to take care of. After that Rebekah and I will drop by."

Andrea put the tea cup in front of Craig and said "I will be back. I will get some more milk."

She was pouring milk in the tea pot when she startled as she heard a sound behind her.

Klaus looked towards Craig when he returned from the kitchen. Knowing him for the past eight years had made him expert on his moods. Seeing anger on his face confused him and when he said "Rebekah sweetie lets go. I just remembered that I have to take care of some paperwork."

Klaus stood up surprised and said "you have not even finished your tea and Andrea is getting some more milk."

He said sound annoyed "I am not hungry. Rebekah lets go sweetheart."

Rebekah exchanged a confused look with Klaus but left leaving Klaus bewildered. He looked towards kitchen and headed there.

As he entered he saw Andrea standing with her back towards him. He took a step towards her when he heard her sob making him stop in track and his heart sink at the same time.

He retreated his steps and left the house. He walked towards the stable feeling confused at '_what was happening to Andrea? She was crying and Craig looked angry. Has he done something wrong? Is she not happy with him and told Craig about her feelings? Is all of this too overwhelming for her? After all she is only sixteen years old. Should he have waited a little before making him his wife? Maybe she had gotten scared.'_

Seeing the dusk pink light in the sky he decided to head home still not able to come to a conclusion.

While Klaus was confused about what had been going on with her since morning and then in the kitchen, she was too wondering where has he gone. She looked at her right hand wrist which was throbbing really bad. She had tried to keep it warm by heating a stone in the fire, wrapping it in a cloth and put it against the wrist which had comforted it for a bit but as soon as she removed it, it started hurting again. At last she decided to go to sleep hoping that she would not feel the pain while sleeping. She made a plate of dinner for him, covered it with another one and set it on the dinning table thinking that he might be hungry when he returns. She went to her room, changed her clothes with difficulty and tried to sleep. After some effort she managed to go to sleep.

While going towards his room, he noticed a plate on the dinning table. He walked to it, uncovered it and smiled as he saw his dinner. He started to feel guilty that he ignored her all evening so he started towards his room. As he entered he stopped seeing her asleep on the bed. He sighed, went back, ate his dinner and then after washing his plate he came back to his room again, changed his clothes and went to lie next to her. After some time he managed to go to sleep.

Next morning when he woke up, she was already up as usual. As he watched he saw her tying the ties in front of her dress. Hearing her wince, he got out of bed, went to her immediately and asked "what is it?"

She said not meeting his eyes "I hurt my wrist. Can you help me?"

He said "sure but how?"

Andrea said "oh you just pull it and…"

Klaus couldn't help but smile as his fingers pulled the strings feeling his stomach muscles tightening "I meant how did you hurt your wrist?"

Andrea said without looking towards him "I think I slept at a wrong angle."

He noticed that she was still not meeting his eyes even and then he heard her flinch as his fingers brushed against her breast. He said "Andrea look up."

When she looked up he asked "what is it? Are you scared of the nightmare or… me … about .…"

She shook her head immediately saying "why should I be scared of you? You have been wonderful to me."

He stepped closed and lifted her chin with one finger and said "then what is it?"

When she kept quiet he said with a sigh "alright. You dont want to share right now that is fine but whenever you are ready to share remember you can tell me. Now show me your wrist."

She showed him her right hand but as soon as he touched it she winced loudly. He noticed reddening on her skin. He stared at it for a moment and then said "are you sure it happened while sleeping?"

When she nodded he said "this looks bad. Let go, show it to Ansel."

Andrea didnt know what to say so she nodded.

A hour later he looked towards her while going back to the house in the carriage and saw her lost in thoughts. He said "I will be back home early today. You just make sure you don't lift anything with that hand."

When she nodded, he lifted her uninjured hand and kissed her. He dropped her home. Got on his horse and left to see to his lands whereas she went inside holding her bandaged hands.

She sat on the bed and got lost in thoughts.

**_flashback Andrea _**

**_one day early_**

_She turned around and asked feeling nervous "Craig! Do you need anything?"_

_She suddenly realized that her heart was racing so fast that it seemed that it will get out of her chest._

_She looked at him nervously as he took a step towards her and said "my tea was cold Andrea. You know I dont like cold tea."_

_She hastily said "I will make another for you."_

_She turned to make him a fresh one when he grabbed her arm and twisted it to her back hissing "what is the point of making another one? You know I take only one cup a day and that is ruined."_

_Her eyes started to sting as the pain shot in her writs as Craig pulled it back further. She pleaded "please you are hurting me."_

_He hissed "in just two days you have forgotten what I have taught you. Hot tea."_

_She said now crying "I will make another one."_

_He hissed "you wasted just an expensive tea. I don't want you to waste more."He let her go and retreated. _

**end flashback **

She wiped her tears thinking _'what is she going to do? O lord please keep Rebekah safe. At least she herself has Klaus who seems to care about her but then Craig loves Rebekah too.'_


	3. Chapter 3 Getting sucked back in

Later that night as she stayed still in his arms, her eyes filled with tears as she recalled how earlier that evening he had helped her while eating food, changing into her night clothes, how his finger had touched her skin causing a shiver to run through her body, turn off the oil-lamp, taken care of fire in the fireplace, how he had leaned in and kissed her gently and asked for the hundredth time since he had come back "does she need help with anything else?"Even now his arm was around her waist. She put her uninjured hand on his arm and tried to go to sleep which she managed after a few moments.

His eyes opened in the middle of night when he felt something soft touching his hand. At once he realized that his hand was on her breast. He retreated it and looked at her peaceful face. He recalled how quiet and scared she looked last evening. He wondered again '_what has happened to Andrea? Whatever it was, it was triggered when Craig and Rebekah were there for tea. Maybe she told Craig that she is not happy with the marriage and he got upset with her. But she tells him that she is happy with him so what is going on?'_ He sighed and said to himself "she is young and naive. She does not know how to fall in love. It is his job to make her fall in love with him. Maybe he is not trying hard enough." Thinking about random things he drifted off to sleep.

Before she knew it two weeks went by. During this time her wrist healed and she was starting to feel herself again. Even though she was scared of that kitchen incidence and hoped that it was one time thing only but that didnt help with the fear that had woken up again in her heart; the fear that she had managed to put to sleep after seeing how wonderful Klaus has been to her. Even with all that fear she had now started looking forward to him making love to her. He had managed to wake up feelings in her that she couldnt understand. She didnt know how to put those feeling in words but she knew one thing for sure that whatever she was feeling for klaus was much stronger than anything she had ever experienced. She wondered _was it love?_ The realization that she was falling in love with her husband made her happy and scared at the same time. She wondered _'what if in a few months, years he will show her his true colors, how much hurt that will cause! To avoid that hurt it is better that she does not associate a lot of expectations and feelings with him.'_ But then the way he would treat her and her body when he made love to her was so amazing that it would confuse her and make her want to confess her feeling for him. She wished that she could do that to him too but then she would feel handicapped by the realization that she didnt know how to do that not to mention the apprehension she felt '_what if he does not like it? What if she does something wrong and make him angry?'_ All these thought would stop her from doing anything to him and then seeing that he looked satisfied by just her kisses, she assumed that he didnt want her to do anything to him. Often she felt like telling him how she felt about him but then lost nerves thinking about her fear of getting hurt and disappointed by him. When she would be alone after he had left to visit his farms sometimes it seemed to her that it all was a dream from which she would wake up anytime but then when he would come back in the evening and hold her in their bed before drifting off to sleep again it would become a reality.

Within these two weeks she had realized that Klaus was very easy to satisfy which was very different from the image of husband in her head. He had not many demands. The only demand he had was to remain discreet about their relationship in front of servants and he didnt like interference in his privacy. Seeing that she had stopped asking the servants to clean their room. The incidence with Craig never happened again so she was extremely happy with her life knowing that her husband loved her and even though she was not sure if Rebekah and Criag were doing well she often wondered does he hit her but then discard the thought that if he did, she would have told Klaus but then she would say to herself "If I have not told Klaus then how will she tell her brother about her husband" which really depressed her.

With each passing day he was becoming satisfied with his decision to marry Andrea and had gotten over the fact that she was too young for him. She was everything he had hoped her to be. Ever since she had come to his house, she had made sure that the house ran smoothly even though she was still very young and sometimes it surprised her that how comfortably she was running his house. He also noticed that she got along it the servant really well. The only thing that he found odd was that she would make it a point to clean their room on her own, never let any servant make up their bed. During these past two weeks, he had made love to her three, four times a week which was wonderful. But he couldnt shake off this feeling that something was bothering her. He often thought '_why does she shut down so quickly? She has never shown any desire to want him. Granted that was not accepted for women to be too advance about their feelings as per the norms of the society but still not even held his hand on her own or initiate a kiss unless he did it. Even during their love making he started noticing that she would just lay there and not do anything. At most she would do is hold his shoulders or kiss him with the same intensity he was kissing her and moaned showing him that she was being pleased.'_

At first he had thought that she didnt like what he was doing to her but that proved to be wrong when he noticed her response to his touches and then after a lot of thinking it hit him that she didn't know what to do. Someone had to tell her so when he started to make love to her one day three weeks after their marriage, he had total intention of teaching her art of love making; showing her the ropes.

While kissing her and caressing her body he whispered against her lips "run your hands on my back."

She asked confused "what?"

He held her slender waist and rolled them over bringing her on top of him making her yelp slightly. He said smiling "like this" as he ran his hands on her bare back making her to moan softly.

Andrea's felt a shiver run through her and her head fell on his chest.

He rolled them back and said "now do it."

After a slight hesitation he felt the motion of hands on his back. As her hands starting moving down to his hips she stopped but he said "dont stop."

She continued to do that and he continued to look into her eyes as his pupils dilated as her fingers felt his body. He leaned in and kissed her deeply as her hand rested on his hips and he parted her legs and slipped into her.

Later when he rolled over from her he said "I want you to remember what we did today Andrea and I want you to do it to me next time."

She nodded as he pulled her towards him.

From that day onwards their love making became two way street with him teaching her something new every time. In just a few more sessions he saw that she was a quick learner but he still felt something was missing. Often he would feel that she was not totally there but when asked she would never answer so he stopped asking and before they knew it, a month went by and his confusion about her behavior turned to annoyance. He even started to wonder _'is this the kind of life, he will be having? Someone who will never fall in love with him' _as he recalled how his parents were. Even though they were discreet about their relationship in public but he knew that they loved each other. You could see the love they had for each other even if they were standing in the opposite corners of the room. He realized that seeing their marriage he had started to expect that type of marriage for himself too but he was realizing now after getting married to Andrea that he will not get that. After many frustrating nights lost in thoughts he decided to discard that perfect image of marriage he had and make the best of the situation hoping that one day maybe a few months, years down the road she will eventually fall in love with him. Another thing that confused him was her unwillingness to visit Rebekah and Craig. During this past one and half month he had asked her many times to go visit them but she refused saying that she would go with him. He had full intention of taking her there but he had been so busy that he was unable to take her. He felt relieved that Rebekah made it a point to visit them once a week.

She was folding the laundry when she heard a voice "hey Andrea, where are you?"

Andrea quickly folded Klaus's shirt and headed out the room.

She said "here in Klaus.. our room. I will be down there."

After greeting Rebekah she said "I will ask Maria to make some tea."

Rebekah said "I have already told her to. You come and sit. I want to talk to you about something. Ever since you have gotten married , you have not visited."

Andrea sat on the chair feeling apprehensive and said "I will come with Klaus. He and been busy but I promise we will come."

She paused for a moment and then after slight hesitation she asked what she had been wanting to ask her since the day she had married Craig "Rebekah, are you happy?"

Rebekah looked at her in confusion and asked "why do you ask? Dont I look happy?" as she picked up the cup of tea, Maria put in front of her.

Andrea said "yes you do but I just wanted to know."

Rebekah looked at her serious face and asked "are _you_ happy with Nik?"

Seeing that shy smile on her face Rebekah felt happy and satisfied. She smiled and said "hey I know we have a age difference of 6 years but I want her to be sisters considering you are Nik's wife."

When she said "me too Rebekah" Rebekah took a deep breath and then said "so here is something I have to tell you." She paused for a second and then said "I am with child."

Andrea suddenly jump up with a hand on her mouth excitedly and then a smile appeared on her face.

Andrea asked excitedly "oh but this is wonderful. How far along are you? why didnt you tell me? Does Klaus know?"

Rebekah laughed saying "calm down. three months. I wanted you to be with child before I tell you but you and Nik are taking too much time" she laughed seeing her cheek getting red but then continued "yes he knows."

She wondered _'should she tell her?'_ but then decided that Klaus needs to know first so she just smiled as Rebekah continued to tell her about her pregnancy.

While Andrea was exciting about Rebekah's news, Klaus was looking down at the new fence put around his property feeling frustrated unable to figure out why has she not warmed up to him yet like he had expected her to be right now and she was as closed up as she was when they had gotten married. He hit has hand on the fence realizing that his feeling for her too were starting to getting tainted with this frustration with her. The thoughts kept on tormenting his mind throughout the day so when he headed towards home he was feeing very agitated. Before entering the house he made a conscious effort to calm his mood down. As he stepped into the great hall, Andrea walked to him and said excitedly "Rebekah came today and she told me about her being with child."

He looked at her excitedly and smiled at last. He held her hand saying "yes she is. I am very happy for her."

She said smiling "She is very happy. I am sure Craig must be happy" as she took her hand from his grasp.

He looked at her face and realized that she had not even noticed what she had done. The annoyance started to built up in him again so he turned and went to his room.

Andrea followed him not realizing what had happened, thinking of telling him about their news during the dinner and asked "Klaus do you want to eat…"

Before he could stop himself he snapped "no" without looking towards her.

Andrea felt the smile slipping from her face replaced by sudden fear and confusion. She looked at his back feeling confused wondering_ what happened_ as she saw him striping his cloths and changing into night clothes. She stepped back with heavy heart, her excitement about telling him the happy news died. She went to the kitchen and after cleaning up, when she came back he was in bed reading a book. She chanced him a glance but he was too lost in his book so she changed her clothes and got in next to him not knowing what to do about the fear that had grasped her heart at seeing his anger.

As she got next to him, he put the book down, turn to her and pulled her towards him. When she responded to his kiss, he felt relieved. When she moaned as his lips moved down to her neck, he relaxed a bit but when her hands didnt move from her side he got frustrated and snapped "don't just lie there like as if I am forcing myself on you" making her cringe and him regret what he had said. He cursed himself but at the sometime he felt her hands on his back and he got off saying "that is alright Andrea. I had a bad day. We shouldnt be doing this with this mood of mine."

She still didnt know what to say but let him hold her and closed her eyes trying to calm the fear in her heart and wondered _'what happened to him? Has she done something wrong? What about the baby? Maybe she will tell him tomorrow"_ and drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up he had already left. Her heart sank with this bad feeling in her stomach as she realized that not once in these past two months she had woken up after him. That was not what good wives are supposed to be like. They have to up before their husbands. She recalled how her father had reminded her mother again and again about that duty of good wife. She cringed at the memory of those angry red marks on her mother's back by that cane. She got up hastily, freshen up, put on her dress thinking _'what must he be thinking? I hope he is not in a bad mood when he comes back.' _

During the whole day she kept herself extra occupied with cleaning, making dinner even though Maria told her many times to leave things to her, organizing his books, cleaning the oil lamps in all rooms, totally forgetting about the child she was carrying to distract her mind, making sure everything was perfect when he comes home.

While she was trying to distract her mind with what had happened to Klaus, he too was trying to figure out what could he do to make her fall in love with him or just warm up to him knowing now that she didn't love him. He kept on saying to himself "she is learning. She is still very young" to justify her behavior towards him. He said to himself after some thought "give her till the end of the week and then you can confront her about what is going on with her."

He sighed and looked over his lands when he heard sound of hoofs of horse interrupting his thoughts when he saw a carriage running in a full speed. Looking towards it, he realized that it was heading towards the cliff. He hastily turned his horse in that direction and galloped it behind it. When he at last caught up with the carriage, he jumped on the cart and opened the door and pulled the women out and jump on the ground while the carriage continued going eventually stopping as it reached the edge while Klaus looked around and then toward the woman in his arm. He asked huffing "are you alight madam?"

She said in a shaky voice "yes, thank you."

Klaus got up from her as the woman got up too. Now that he was caught up on his breath he recognized her and said "her Royal Highness" curtsying her. She caught her breath and said "yes."

She looked towards him for a moment and then asked "What is your name?"

Klaus said politely "Niklaus Mikaelson your highness."

She turned towards her guard who had finally caught up with her and said "come to the palace tomorrow around noon. You will be rewarded for your act of bravery and saving my life."

Klaus stood there shocked that he had just save the daughter of the King as he watched the guards helping the princess on the horse. He got on his horse and went home.

When he reached home Andrea asked him "what happened?" seeing his dirty clothes.

By the time he was done telling her she said "I am glad you are fine."

He nodded and took off his shirt when he heard a gasp. He turned around and asked "what?"

Andrea said "you are hurt?"

He said looking at his scratched and bleeding elbow "just a scrap. I am fine…" but she had left the room.

He was wondering where she has gone when she returned with a wet cloth and before he could ask what she was doing she started dabbing his injuring. He felt a chill going through his body and he wanted to just engulf her and make love to her but he had promised himself till the weekend to give her chance to make a move.

After dinner, he went to their room whereas she continued to help Maria in the kitchen. Andrea suddenly realized that she still had not told him about the baby so she hurried towards the room but as she entered to her dismay she saw that he was already asleep. She changed her clothes with heavy heart and went to lie down with him too. After a while she realized that something was missing. She suddenly noticed that his arm were not around her. Seeing that happen for the first time in two months her already depressed heart sank further.

Next morning when she woke up he was getting ready. She asked him "where are you going?"

He said without looking towards her "I have to go to farm and then to the castle. I will be late."

And then ignoring her "at least have some breakfast…" he left.

While Klaus was visiting the king Andrea was home wondering '_what is happening to Klaus?'_

She started pacing in her room and then she remembered how one night she had heard her father yelling at her mother about her not being able to provide any pleasure to him. At that time she was confused about what he was talking about but now that she was married she knew exactly what he had meant. She wondered _'maybe he is realizing that she is too inexperienced for him. He can get more pleasure from older women. Maybe he is regretting his decision. Should she do something to provide him pleasure? Maybe taking an initiative…' _As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she blushed and then she said to herself _"what is the harm? He said it was natural and they were husband and wife. And… she likes it when he makes love to her. Maybe he will like it too and she likes him too so why not."_

She felt pleased with her decision. Rest of the day she felt really happy and satisfied and started looking forward to the night and decided that after that she will tell him about the baby.

During the dinner, she started to feel self-conscious as their bedtime was nearing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by him saying "the king rewarded me with a manor for saving his sister yesterday."

She asked with a mixture of surprise and excitement "what?"

He looked at her excited face but didn't know what to feel about it. That night when he was lying he noticed that she was still up and staring the ceiling. He sighed and closed his eyes when he felt her lips on his lips snapping his eyes open. He looked at her flushed face in the dim oil lamp and then leaned in and kissed her and then proceeded to making love to each other. By the time thy were done, she had forgotten about telling him about the baby as she put her head on his chest and his fingers caressing her arms, putting her to sleep. While she slept peacefully he laid there feeling relieved that at least she showed some interest in him but then a thought crossed his mind _'did she make the first move because of what the king had given him?'_ bringing his morale down. He cursed himself from thinking that way and closed his eyes.

She quickly changed her clothes and headed towards kitchen feeling pleased that she had woken up before him. She helped Maria make breakfast and by the time she was done laying the table, Klaus was at the table too. She smiled at him but then seeing his serious face the smile slipped and she got confused wondering has she done something wrong? And then a thought occurred to her _'probably she shouldn't have made the first move last night. Obviously he didn't like it.'_ With heavy heart she finished her breakfast. After he left, she cleaned the kitchen and got lost in house work to distract her mind.

* * *

Around afternoon, Andrea muttered to herself "where is that book?" as her eyes and hands both went through the books on the shelf.

Her hand trembled at the very thought of how angry he must be if she is unable to find it and then she took a sigh of relief as she found it.

She took it out, turned around saying "found it. bring…ing it" but stopped as she saw him standing there looking extremely annoyed.

She instinctively stepped back as he walked to her saying "do you know how precious my time is? You wasted ten minutes looking for this damn book" snatching the book from her hand.

She knew from past experience that it was best to be quiet so she held her tongue and just when she thought she was safe he yanked her hair and pushed her head towards the book shelf. He left ignoring her yelp of pain.

* * *

Luckily he had a lot to do, collecting the rent and taking round to check the new fence that had been installed around a peace of land. He wanted to go visit his new manor but he got busy which he realized was a good thing as it distracted his mind from Andrea and the doubt that had woken up in him. In the evening when he headed towards home, the thoughts started to plague his mind again. The more he thought about it, the more he got confused and he told himself "_she knew he was wealthy from the start so if that were the case she would have warmed up to him immediately after the marriage."_

He suddenly felt light and came to this conclusion that it must have been a coincidence but that nagging feeling still kept on haunting him that it was not a coincidence seeing that she had still not warm up to him. Upon entering his room he smiled as he saw Rebekah siting on the bed. He walked to her smiling but then the smile slipped from his face as he saw Andrea on the bed with a gauze bandage around her forehead. All his doubts and disappointment at her flew out of window as he darted to her and asked "what happened?" looking at the bandage on her head.

Andrea heard his voice, swallowed her tears before opening her eye and said "I tripped on my dress and hit the book shelf."

Klaus touched her forehead where he could see blood on the gauze and said "I thought you had stopped getting hurt now!"

Rebekah asked confused "what do you mean?"

Klaus asked holding Andrea's hand surprising her "You don't remember?"

Rebekah asked "what?"

Klaus said "how she used to be injured all the time when we were growing up." He touched her forehead and asked "How are you here?"

Rebekah said "I just came to return the book I borrow last week. I saw her sitting on the study floor nursing her head. She told me she tripped on her dress. I asked Maria to get Ansel and he fixed her up."

Klaus opened his mouth to say something when they heard Craig ask "what happened?" as he rushed in. Klaus turned back to her as he felt a squeeze on his hand. He thought _she must be hurting_ so he said "why dont you sleep Andrea ? It will hurt less in the morning."

While Rebekah told Craig what happened, Klaus continued to look towards her. She looked on the verge of crying. He wanted to hug her but he felt uncomfortable doing in front of her brother so he said "how about I ask Maria to make some tea and we have it here while she rest. that way she will get some company too."

Rebekah smiled and said "that will be great. I will go ask Maria."

Andrea didn't know what to say when Craig took a seat at the foot of her bed. She shifted her foot under the covers but then she almost jumped when his hand landed on it and to her horror he started laying weight on it. She controlled the yelp of pain as his hand kept on pressing at the foot on the wrong angle. She looked towards Klaus helplessly but he was busy taking off his coat. Her eyes darted to Craig again who had a knowing malicious smile on his face. She gulped her tears and said "Klaus can you please help me sit. I dont feel like lying down."

Klaus asked "are you sure?" whereas Craig said "Klaus!? When will you stop calling him that."

She said tearfully "yes" now really in pain as the pressure on her foot increased.

He nodded and said "it is alright Craig. I am used to hearing that from her. Niklaus will sound a bit weird from her."

He push the pillow up and helped her up releasing her foot from the pressure under Craig's hand. She took a deep sigh of relief but it took all of her will power not to touch her foot knowing well that it will not end well for her.

She startled when Craig said "I have realized that women cannot do anything properly. They are worse then children. With the kids there is a logical explanation of why are they clumsy but what is the reason for women to act that way?"

Klaus said "well not all women are clumsy. Some are just accident prone like your sister here. It is not their fault. Every person has their own idiosyncrasies. No one is perfect."

She felt a strong wave of hatred for Craig when he said "yes some people are definitely not perfect" looking in her direction.

She looked wards Rebekah in horror as she said "I think men secretly want women to be this way. They want them to depend on them. They coddle them all the time to prove that they are manly so why shouldn't women act that way too."

Andrea closed her eyes for a second praying _"please Rebekah, shut up. He will kill you"_ but then snapped them open as Craig said laughing "that is true. We do that sometimes. Like we dont really need opinion from women. We just ask their opinion out of politeness and without any genuine interest in their conclusion. Right Klaus?"

While Rebekah laughed, Klaus said smiling "not really. I always value a good opinion whether it be by a woman or a man."

Craig said mocking as he looked towards Andrea "oh come now. You dont have to please your wife. You know some women cannot amount to anything."

Klaus eyes flew to Andrea and realized for the first time she has been quiet for a long time. He said "well I am luckily not one of those. Anyway Andrea should rest. Why dont you drop by tomorrow?"

Craig said "I will see. I have some work to do. Rebekah can come if she wants to."

Rebekah said "yes I will see you tomorrow."

After they left, he asked her "how are you feeling?"  
Before she could say anything the tears that she had been holding on for a long time deceived her and fell on her cheek. She hastily wiped them saying "my head hurts. I think I want to sleep. Have you eaten anything ?"

He looked at her for a moment seeing the distress on her face and said "I will eat something. Why don't you rest?"

He got up and went to change his clothes not seeing her massaging her foot. When he came back she had gone to sleep.

He sighed and got under the covers with her when he felt her arm go around his torso. He turned towards her, touched her forehead and wondered _'why is she not happy with him? It is his job as her husband to make sure that she is happy. Maybe his attitude towards her in the last month was worrying her.' _The thought just made him guilty and he decided that he has to change his attitude towards her. If she is unable to warm up to him then it is not her fault. Her heart is simply not into him. Maybe if he is considerate and carrying she will eventually fall for him. She needs him right now and he has to be there for her which he will not be able to do with this feeling in his heart. He sighed and closed his eyes. When he was unable to sleep for a long time, he gently removed her arm from around him and got out of bed. He took out his book for his lands and started going through the report as he tucked back in. Before he knew it he managed to distract his mind and after a few minutes he realized that this months income was five thousand pound more then last months. He smiled with relief that his tenants had not given him problem with rent this time too. He flipped the pages and then it hit him that it was not just this month, last month too every single one of them had given the rent on time. He turned towards Andrea sleeping peacefully with her hand on his pillow and got lost in past.

**_flashback_**

**_3 years back_**

_She asked "where are you going?" as James put his bags in the carriage._

_Klaus said "I am going to the town."_

_Andrea asked twisting her fingers "why?"_

_He said "there are new ploughs in the market. I am going to get them."_

_She asked "will they be better then the previous ploughs?"_

_He looked at her curious face and said "yes, they are. They are easier to pull and are more controllable then previous ones but they are relatively new production so it is difficult to procure them. I have gone two times in the past four months but was unable to get one. Lets hope I get luck this time."_

_She said smiling"mother used to say that I am very lucky. Do you want me to say prayers for you."_

_He laughed and said "really! I didnt know you were lucky."  
The smile slipped from her face making him regret his words. When she started to turn, he said "hey hey, how about you touch these and if I can procure them, then I will know that you are lucky" as he handed her a few coins he took out of his pocket._

_She smiled and touched the coins he gave to her, closed her eyes and prayed that he get those ploughs, his fingers touched her cold fingers. He looked up but she was looking at the coins she was holding. He put the coins in his pocket and sat in the carriage and left for the city. _

_When he reached the town, he took out those coins from his pocket and put them in a black pouch and put it in his bag and went to sleep in the room he had rented in a small inn. _

_A week later in the town. _

_He opened his bag and was looking through his belongings in frustration at not being unable to procure the plough after four trips to the seller. While going through his clothes his hand touched a black pouch. He smiled as he remembered Andrea's face when she was praying on the coins. He took out the coins and put then with the rest of his money. He put the pouch in the pocket of his breaches and then after changing his clothes he left the room hoping that he will be successful today. _

_Later that afternoon he was sitting in front of the fireplace drinking gin smiling ear to ear at the success of procuring the machine after four trips to the seller and two trips to the town in last four months. He stretched his legs and put his hand in his pocket and started thinking about his day and suddenly he sat up straight as he recalled "mother used to say that I am very lucky. Do you want me to say prayers for you."_

_He smiled and shook his head. _

**_end flashback _**

He smiled and closed the ledger. He laid next to her, wrapped his arm around her and smiled when she sighed and snuggled close to him. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he had gone to sleep.

She recovered in a few days during which he was with her emotionally and physically even though his heart was still confused about her odd behavior. Even her active participation in their love making was not helping him appreciate her efforts. Sometimes he wanted to snap at her seeing that it had started to look artificial to him but at the same time he was starting to get worried about her as she was getting too much accident prone. Once a week, he would see an injury on her body - either a redness on some area, a cut on her hand or arm, a bruised back once, a twisted ankle once- every time happened because of some clumsiness of hers. He would wonder _'shouldn't she be learning how to become a little careful now that she is not a thirteen year old?'_ but that didnt stop him from worrying about her. Often he would wake up in the middle of night to find her crying softly confusing him further, making him think that she was not happy with him which was infuriating and confusing him what to do.

While he was getting frustrated, she was not oblivious of what was going on between them. She couldnt deny the fact that their relationship was going down the hill. There was something lacking in it. She often blamed herself for it as she wondered _'Maybe I am not being a submissive wife. I should work more on it. From her angle she has gotten an ideal husband. He is older, wiser and more competent in everything than her. What has he gotten? I should learn from him, from his knowledge and make him happy' s_o she started going on out way to make him happy but was getting confused when instead of being happy with her he was either angry or indifferent. She often wondered _'father and Craig loved that, then why doesnt he?'_

She would often stay up at night after he had made wonderful love to her and suddenly would start crying at how he cherished her during their love making, treated her so gently but still he was not happy with her and that confused her. She wondered _'would she ever be able to keep anyone happy?'_ and the tears would start rolling off. With each passing day with him, she was falling more and more in love with him but on the other hand something had happened to Craig. He had started visiting more often and every time would leave some mark on her body as a souvenir of his visit. Every time she had to come up with a believable excuse to tell Klaus but she could see that he was getting worried about her. A fear had started to root in her heart _'what if he finds out? what will he do? What if Klaus gets too angry with her some day and start hitting her too? What will she do then? Should she tell him about Craig? Will he care seeing that he is often angry at her for some reason? If she tells him what will happen to Rebekah or Klaus if Klaus for some miracle confronts Craig'_ so she kept her mouth shut.

As she was putting on her dress next morning, she suddenly remembered that she had still not told him about the baby and she cursed herself wondering why hasn't she told him yet but then herself realized that with what has been going on with Craig and then him being unhappy with her, she had lost nerves to tell him about the baby. She said to herself "tonight she should tell him. Doesnt matter what kind of mood he is in. He has to know."


	4. Chapter 4 In the time of test

Later that night Andrea covered the food container and headed to her room with the full intent of telling him. She stopped as she saw him sitting on the bed reading a book and groaned as she thought that she shouldnt be disturbing him while he is reading. She picked up his shirt, folded it and continued to clean the room.

Klaus even though was reading the book, his eyes were glancing at her occasionally but she was not paying attention. At last getting tired of this silent treatment he asked "how was you day?" amused at the way she startled.

She turned to him and said "my day? my day was fine…" she hesitated but then asked "how was yours?" wondering '_she should tell him now. He looks like in a good mood.'_

He said without looking towards her "busy but good."

She looked towards him and started to take off her dress.

Klaus instinctively looked up and watched her undressing and a smile appeared on his lips. He walked to her and grabbed her from her slim waist.

Andrea jumped at the touch and a moan escaped her mouth as his lips touched her neck. He turned her towards her, picked her up and carried her to the bed, came down with her on the bed, ran his hands on her body, kissed her neck, face and lips and then took her. He felt like saying "I love you" but the words felt hollow to him at that moment so he kept quiet. He held her hand and asked "what have you done here?"

She said "cut it while chopping the vegetables."

He asked softly "when are you going to start caring about yourself?"

She smiled and said "why do I have to take care of myself? I have you to take care of me."

His heart skipped a beat at how sincere she sounded. He said "yes I am here but you need to take care of yourself too. Is it deep?"

Andrea said touching his cheek "not really" sending a feeling of joy through his body immediately replaced by confusion as he remembered her crying during the night when she thought he was sleeping.

When he rolled over form her, pulled the blanket to cover her body he said "my stableman George had been blessed with a son yesterday. It would be nice if you take something to his wife" as his arm went around her torso over the blanket.

She said "I will take it tomorrow."

She said "Klaus" with the full intention of telling him.

He said "mmm."

Andrea looked towards him and realized that he was falling asleep.

She groaned and said "nothing" and continued to sleep.

Next morning when she woke up he was reading a book. She wondered in frustration 'what was he reading and how long has he been up? Why doesn't she just tell him?!' She was lost in her thoughts when they were interrupted by him asking "what is it?"

She asked feeling flustered "what are you reading?"

He replied "it is a french poetry book."

When she didnt comment anything he said "I remember you used to love poetry."

When she still didnt say anything, he couldnt keep it in any longer and asked "Andrea, are you not happy in this marriage?"  
She looked towards him in shock and hastily asked "why would you say that?"

He looked at her sincere shocked expressions and sighed. He said "you look worried to me all the time."

She felt her heart jump in her throat. She hastily said "I lost my interest in poetry."

Klaus stared at her wondering _if she just changed the topic_ but said "I don't believe it. I remember you loved it."

Andrea said "people change Klaus" getting out of the bed to get ready.

Klaus continued to look towards her as she put on her dress more confused then he was a few minutes ago.

He said "I have to go. I will be back early today."

He got out of the bed, changed his clothes while she went to the kitchen after changing her clothes and made breakfast. After breakfast he left.

He managed to finish the tour of his manor before noon so he decided to head home. When he entered his room he found her curled up in the bed reading the poetry book he was reading in the morning. Seeing her reading the book he suddenly smiled and walked to her saying "and here I thought you lost interest in poetry."

She startled, got up hastily closing it.

The smile slipped from his face and he grabbed her hand asking "Andrea what is it? Are you scared of me?"

She said feeling flustered "no."

He asked with frustration "then what is it?"

She said "nothing Klaus. You just startled me."

She picked up the book again and said "is this yours?"

He said after a moment of silence "yes. Which one do you like?"

She said "I…" and then after pause she said "I cannot read this Klaus."

He asked "what? you were learning to read french so well."

She said picking up his coat "father didn't like me studying anymore…" but she was turned around by him as he asked in shock "you stopped studying? when? I remember you were getting really good in French."

She said not looking towards him "a long time ago. That poem was the last one I ever read."

He recovered from his initial shock and asked "do you want to learn?"

When she hesitated he asked reluctantly "you want me to help you with it?"

She didn't know what to say remembering

**_Flashback _**

**_4 years ago_**

_She was reading the poem with a smile on her face thinking about what Klaus had told her about the poem when suddenly someone snatched the book from her hand. She jumped up seeing Craig looking extremely angry. _

_he shouted "how many times have I told you to stop wasting your time in these book."_

_She stuttered, stepping back "Klaus gave…"_

_Craig shouted "call him Niklaus and what were you doing with him? You cannot be with him. He is my friend not yours."_

_She screamed as a slap landed on her face and she fell down with the force of it when a kick landed in her stomach causing her to double over with pain and scream again. _

_She said "please Craig. I will not see him. Please don't" but he kicked her again in her stomach and left. _

**_end flashback_**

She shook her head but seeing frustration on Klaus's face she wondered is he getting angry that she doesn't want to learn? Angry? "No. I shouldnt let him be angry" she said to herself and nodded.

When she nodded after a silent moment he felt relieved.

From that day onwards they started spending some quality time together in the afternoon after super to read poetry and he started noticing how carefree she would become which was a delightful sight for him.

During those session Andrea wondered should she tell him now but she realized after so many weeks of keeping it a secret she had lost the nerve and didn't know where to start from.

After coming back from church on Sunday she was going to the kitchen when he pulled her towards the study room saying "come, lets finish that poem we were discussing last night. Later I have to go with Craig."

He wondered '_is it his imagination that she had stiffen all of a sudden?'_ but she followed him to the study.

For the next hour he lost track of time as he helped her read the poem and explained her. Andrea was so lost in the poem that she missed Klaus looking at her. She looked up and caught him looking at her. She asked smiling "what is it?"

He said "sometime it feels that you are hiding something from me."

She said feeling flustered "really? I am not hiding anything."

He was suddenly overcome by the same feeling of frustration he had been having for quite a while now. She opened her mouth to say something but he got up and said "I am going with Craig, will be back by evening" and left leaving her feeling miserable.

Later that evening Andrea was curled up in the great hall sofa reading the poem, she and Klaus were reading when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She startled and jumped up as she saw Craig looking at her with narrowed eyes. She hastily put the book down and asked Klaus as she fixed her hair "when did you come back?" feeling really nervous.

He said "a minute ago. It seems you like it."

He followed her gaze to Craig who was looking at the book. As he watched he looked up and said "sister you have started this nonsense again?"

Andrea said hoping to change the topic "Craig, how are you?"

He said dismissively "good. Niklaus I must be going now. You would want to have supper now if my sister had made some seeing she was busy with her book."

And left before Klaus could say anything.

Next day around noon, Andrea was reading the book in the study when the door banged open and she jumped as she saw Craig. He walked to her, grabbed her by her arm and said "how dare you? Is that what we have taught you?"

His hand swung in the air and landed on her face. Andrea screamed and said "Craig what happened?"

Craig hissed "I was there. He called you two times before you answered him. Is that book more important then him?" grabbing her arm and shaking her.

She said with tears falling her eyes "please Craig, you are hurting me. Klaus said I can…"

He roared "Klaus?! _It is Niklaus_. You are shaming the family. You are supposed to respect him."

He shook her again, pushed her away from him and left.

He entered the study feeling annoyed at not being able to find his shirt. He walked to her and said "Andrea where is my shirt?"

She quickly got up from the chair, wiped her eyes and asked "which one Klaus?"

He said "the one I wore yester … day" as he noticed her eyes.

She said "let me get it. I washed it today. It must be dry by now."

As she started to walk past him he grabbed her arm and asked "what is it? Were you crying?"

He was thinking if she was crying because of him when he heard her wince.

He asked "what is it?"

She said a bit scared "Klaus pleas let me go."

But he pulled her dress sleeve up and gaped at the angry finger prints on her forearm. After staring at it for a moment he came out of trance when she tried to yank it away from his grasp. He looked into her tear brimmed eyes and asked "Andrea what happened?"

She said "nothing Klaus. I am fine."

He looked into her eyes and saw fear. He asked pulling her towards him "Andrea who did this?" When she continued to be quiet he shouted _"answer me."_

But still she didnt answer so he let her go and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, wondering if he ever did this to her but nothing came to his mind.

She didnt know what to say so she kept quiet and then all of a sudden he grabbed her from her shoulders and shook her asking "who was here?"

He continued to look at her face but she stayed quiet. Suddenly a heart wrecking thought crossed his mind _is she cheating on him?_

He ran his fingers through his hair again and left the room in frustration. He went straight to Maria and asked her "who visited the house today?"

Maria said "except of mistress brother, no one visited Sir."

He wondered _did she go out to meet him?_ He was going to ask Maria if Andrea left the house today but then realized how conspicuous it will look so he let it go and left the house. He came home late, by which time she had cried herself to sleep. While she slept he was unable to do so next morning he left very early.

All day he was unable to concentrate. The more he thought about it, he was getting convinced that she might be cheating on him otherwise why wouldnt she tell about Craig's visit. By evening he was steaming with anger at the sense of betrayal. He rode towards the house with full determination of asking her if she was cheating on him and if she was he would… he was unable to finish his thought process and praying that she was not cheating on him he stepped into his house.

When he found the bedroom empty he headed towards the study knowing well that she would be there. He had taken a step towards the study when he heard her say "please, you are hurting me" stopping him in track.

Before he took another step he heard Craig saying "it seems you have forgotten your upbringing Andrea " followed by a loud smack sound.

He looked at the door in confusion when he heard her panicked voice "Craig! please, I … will not ignore him. Please don't, my baby…." followed by a scream bringing him out of shock.

He dashed to the door and pushed it open. His eyes widened in shock as he saw her with tear-stained face and Craig holding her arm while shaking her. As he looked towards her in shock, she hastily wiped her eyes but Klaus had seen what he needed to see. All those injuries, her unwillingness in telling him what she was scared of. It all started to make sense. A part of him, he realized was still shocked at what he had discovered but seeing Craig holding her arm was not something he could ignore. He walked to Craig and hissed "let her go Craig."

Craig hastily said "Niklaus, she fell. I was…"

but he cut him by saying "I said let her go. I will not say it again."

There was dead silence in the room and then he said "if you want your sister to be happy then you will not interfere."

For a moment he couldn't believe what he had said and then before he knew it, he punched Craig on his face making him stumble a few paces freeing her arm.

Andrea gasped "Klaus , no."

He shouted "be quiet Andrea " starling her.

Craig massaged his jaws and said "you will pay for this Niklaus."

Klaus hissed grabbing him from his shirt front "you touch her and I will kill you myself."

Craig glared at her angrily and then said "you are dead to me Andrea. Dead to me. Now whatever happens, you are responsible"

Andrea said pleading "Craig no…." but he left he house.

As the door closed he turned to her and walked to her. He pulled her in a hug saying "O God Andrea. Why didnt you tell me?"

She said shaking her head "Klaus go to Rebekah. He will hurt her. Go please. I am fine" as she massaged her arm.

He looked at her with hesitation and confusion and asked "are you sure?"

He ran out when she nodded wiping her tears. He jumped on his horse and in fifteen minutes he was at Rebekah's. He entered the house saying in a loud voice "Rebekah" but when he didnt hear anyone so he started to get panicked.

He was on the border of getting full panicked when he heard Rebekah's asking "Nik, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

He walked to her and said "lets go"

She asked confused "where?"

He said angrily "you will not live with Craig anymore."

Rebekah said "why? what happened?"

He asked aggressively "did he ever hit you?"

Rebekah said shocked "no. Are you crazy? Why would he hit me?"

He shouted "don't lie to me."

She said calmly this time "are you out of you mind? You have known Craig since you were kids. He would never raise a hand on any woman."

He said not believing her "Rebekah if he is then you cannot live with him."

She said still confused but adamantly "even if he were which he is not, I will not leave him Klaus. I love him. We are having a child."

He looked around around when he heard Craig saying firmly "Niklaus, I will like you to leave now."

They both glared at each other for a moment. He paused for moment at the door as he said "you touch her Craig and I will…" unable to finish the sentence in anger and left.

Andrea was sitting on the floor holding her head in her hands thinking about what will happen now when she felt him sitting next her and engulfing her in his arms. Feeling his warm arms around her she couldnt hold it any longer and let go. His grip around her tighten as she continued to cry. She cried until she thought she had no more tears left in her which surprised her because she had thought that she had no tears in her already.

He whispered into her hair when she was done crying "why didn't you tell me? I have known you for eight years Andrea. We were friends once."

She grabbed his shirt, said in a teary voice "I was afraid. You dont know what Craig is capable of. I once told a girl who used to live next door but later Craig started courting her and she told him. Craig hit me so hard that it broke my arm."

An image of her trying to reach out to take down the apple from a tree with her arm in a cast flashed though his mind and he cursed himself again. He didnt know what to say so he kept quiet when she continued in anguish "I told you not to get Rebekah married to him Klaus. I told you. What will happen now?"

He kissed her head saying "dont worry. I will take care of it. How long has this been going on?"

She sighed saying "long enough. When he told me that you are marrying me, at first I couldn't believe it. I didnt have any feelings for you but still I became selfish and thought that maybe this marriage will get me away from him. And then I started to feel guilty about wanting my freedom in exchange for Rebekah's. I tried to get to you so many times but I didnt know how to tell you this. You are his best friend after all and I knew how much Rebekah loved him. I still didn't want Rebekah to have same fate I had."

She realized that it felt good to talk about everything with him for once.

He said "nothing will happen to Rebekah. I will get a divorce for her."

She continued to sob into his chest and he continued to hold her and then he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down and removed the sticky strands of hair form her face when she said "I must look horrible right now. Let me clean my…" but he pushed her down snapping "stop this. What are you doing?"

She said "Craig said that I have to be presentable to you."

His heart sank but he held her tight saying "first of all you are looking wonderful and you dont have to look presentable to me and secondly never ever start a sentence with Craig said ever again" making her smile sadly.

He felt her holding her shirt front and heard her ask "how was Rebekah?"

She felt him stiffening but then felt relieved when he said "she said that he does not hit her."

He felt her warm breath against his chest and said "he will never lay a hand on you. He is not allowed in this house Andrea and you are not allowed to go to his house. I know he is your brother but…" the rest of the sentence got lost when she kissed him and broke down again. His heart sank when she said "thank you for getting me out of that house. For being with me."

Klaus felt his throat heavy. He wanted to say something but he couldn't find the words after what had happened. The reality of everything that has happened that evening started to sink in. The image of Craig holding her arm and shaking her and hearing her terrified voice was playing in his head. He cursed himself for not seeing all of this before when it was all happening under his nose, in his house. All the times she was injured, how much pain she must have to endure, he wondered in anguish and then he recalled something else he had overheard. He whispered "Andrea?"

She said "yes?"

He asked "why didn't you tell me about the baby?"

He felt her getting still but then she "I got scared. I wanted to tell you that day when Rebekah told me about her child but you were in such a terrible mood."

He remembered how annoyed he had gotten when she had slipped her hand out of his grasp. He said "that long Andrea ?! You had so many chances after that."

She said desperately "yes I had but then you were rewarded for you bravery and you started changing. You were angry most of the time. Seeing you in that mood, I lost my nerves and then Craig started beating me and I forgot it for a while. By then so much time had passed that I had lost my nerves."

He pulled her in a tighter hug and said "Andrea I told you, you can tell me anything."

She said "hmm" and closed her eyes.

After a short while from her shallow regular breathing, Klaus realized that she has fallen asleep. He was unable to sleep feeling guilty of being so clueless but he didnt want to leave her alone in this stage so he kept on holding her. He couldnt believe it that he was his best friend and he somehow managed to not see who he really was. He realized that amongst all this revelation, the loss of a great friendship was something he had to live with everyday of his life. At last he managed to get a shut eye.

He startled from his sleep when he felt her removing his arm around her and realized that it was morning. He pulled her back saying "no. Stay."

She whispered "Klaus, it is morning."

He said "I know. It is Sunday. Lets lie for a while. I want you next to me" as he moved his hand on her stomach knowing well that their child lie in it.

She smiled at the touch but asked in surprised "why?"

He looked towards her surprised face and for the first time he noticed the fear was gone from her eyes and she was the same girl whom he had made his wife on the first night of their marriage. He touched her cheek and said "because I love you and I enjoy being with you."

As soon as the words were out he regretted as the relaxed expressions changed into a sad one and she said "don't lie to me. You dont have to say things like that to _keep your wife happy._"

He sat up abruptly as he recalled Craig saying something like that when she was hurt. The fact that he was the one who put her on that bed and was gloating over it right under his nose made the pit in his stomach a bit bigger. He distinctly recalled how scared she was when he sat on that bed, how she had squeezed his hand when he had entered the room and he had thought that she was in pain. Now he realized that she was scared of him. He pulled her towards him and gave her a long and passionate kiss. When he broke the kiss he asked "does it look like a kiss from someone who just wants to keep his wife happy? Andrea I love you. When I told you that I have loved you for a long time I was being honest with you. _I have_ loved you for a long time."

He said "I think the first time I felt something for you was when you lost that stupid horse of yours. What was its name? Bluebell? yes, Bluebell and you wanted to cry but didnt want anyone to see you cry. Later I found you hiding in one of my fields crying about that damn horse."

She asked shocked "that was five years ago Klaus."

He caressed her cheek gently and said "yes, but I knew how young you were and I knew I will never be able to have you so I tried very hard to harden my heart from you but you continued to break that wall without even trying. When Craig first asked me Rebekah's hand in marriage and suggested about you, I had never thought that could happen but here we are and I am so happy that I listen to him and my heart and not my brain."

Suddenly she smiled and asked leaning into his chest "and what was your brain telling you?"

He said "you are too young for me."

She looked up into his eyes and said "is that the reason you have been distancing yourself from me?"

He shook his head and said "no. I thought you were not happy in this marriage. You always seemed too scared but now I know why and then you never gave me any indication that you cared about me."

She hastily said "but I do. I…"

Klaus smiled and said "yes now I know you do. I remember the first time when you first time showed any desire for me to make love to you…" laughed as her cheeks reddened. He continued touching her cheek "it was when the king had given me that manor. I thought you were doing it because I had gotten the reward."

She gasped "what?

They talked for a while until their confusions were cleared and when Andrea said to him "I love you Klaus with all my heart" his heart skipped a beat at hearing the worlds he had lost hope of hearing from her and sincerity in those words proved that she was being honest about her feelings. Finally they got out of bed and got ready for church. Even though they saw Craig and Rebekah in the church but Klaus didnt let her meet Craig and Rebekah seemed annoyed when he went to talk to her so it was a short meeting and they parted with each other with heavy hearts.

When he made love to her that night, the way he kissed her still flat stomach as if he was kissing their child, the way he caressed his breast gently and kissed each part of her body being so gentle with her that it felt to her as if he was treating her like porcelain piece which if mishandled will break. She said caressing his cheek when he very gently slipped into her "Klaus I am stronger then you think. I will not break."

He cupped her face and kissed her long and hard.

Later when he held her tight she knew that she had never been loved by anyone so fiercely in her life.

Two days later, Andrea heard loud voices from outside the house. She ran towards the main door and then stopped as fear gripped her heart when she saw Craig standing there. She instinctively moved behind Klaus.

She startled when Craig said "you want to free your sister from me! Is that what you want?"

When Klaus aid "yes" he continued "okay I can do that. On one condition."

Klaus said "name your price."

Craig said "you divorce your wife and we can call this even."

Klaus barked "are you out of your mind? I will never do that."

Craig said with contempt "then dont suggest things to other people" and stormed off. Klaus turned around and spotted her. He took a step towards her but she stepped back and turned to go inside. He said "Andrea" as he followed her.

When he reached his room, she was lying on the bed, crying. He want to her, touched her shoulder and said "hey"

She turned to him and said pleading "please Klaus, dont send me to him. I will die if you do that."

He grabbed her from her shoulders and said "Andrea! where is this coming from? I will never agree to that. How can you even think that?"

She hugged him and said "She is your sister Klaus. I am just too scared Klaus. Craig had always managed to get what he wants."

Klaus said "he cannot have you Andrea. You are mine."

He kissed her head and tighten his hold around her.

Later that day, he was reading a book in the study when he heard Rebekah yelling "Niklaus, what have you done?"

He looked up towards Rebekah glaring at him in anger and asked "what do you mean?"

She huffed "you filed for my divorce. Are you out of your mind?"

She looked back when she heard a sound. She walked to Andrea and asked "I don't get it. Why are you doing this to your own brother?"

Klaus snapped the book on the table and stood up. He hissed "Rebekah love, Andrea is not doing anything. _I_ filed for divorce because Craig is an abusive brother and probably an abusive husband too if you are not defending him."

Rebekah turned to him and said "no, he is not."

Andrea said "Rebekah…" but she cut her off by saying "you dont speak Andrea. I dont know what you have got against Craig but he is really a nice and decent guy. You cannot make up lies like that and Niklaus…" she turned back to Klaus and said "I am not getting a divorce from Craig. We are having a child and I will never leave my husband. He is kind to me."

She turned around and left leaving Andrea miserable and Klaus fuming in anger.

He walked around the desk towards Andrea and pulled her in a hug saying "everything will be okay. You don't worry."

Even though he had told her not to worry but Andrea couldnt help but notice that he was getting worried with each passing day. Craig was refusing to give Rebekah a divorce even though Klaus had spend a fortune on it and Rebekah was really angry at both Andrea and Klaus. At night time too he would just hold her and stare at the ceiling while she felt miserable. When this continued for a week, one day she said to him while he was lost in thoughts "Klaus."

He turned to her ideally caressing her arm said "hmm?"

She bit her lips and said "why dont you agree with what Craig says?"

She felt the motion on her arm getting still and him looking at her.

He grabbed her saying "don't you ever think that way Andrea. You are as important to me as Rebekah is. I will find out a way to resolve this."

Next day while he was at his land, Andrea was unable to think about anything other then Rebekah. So around afternoon, she put on her hat and headed out.

* * *

Klaus entered the house near evening and went straight to his room. Seeing it empty he headed out and asked Jackson "where is Andrea ?"

He said "mistress went out in the afternoon. She has not returned yet."

He wondered _'where she must have gotten?' _so he went back in his room and picked up the book.

* * *

Craig was lying in the bed, when he heard Rebekah asking "Klaus, what are you doing here?"

He smiled and got up. He walked out asking "what is it Niklaus?"

Klaus controlled his anger and said "where is she Craig?"

Craig asked "who?"

He couldn't control it any longer so he shouted "Andrea. Where is she? She has been gone since evening and it is night time"

Craig said "how should I know? You are her husband. You should have controlled her."

Rebekah looked from Klaus to Craig in surprise and then asked Klaus "what do you mean where she is? She must be home."

He said through grinding teeth "she is not."

Craig said "she is dead to me Niklaus. You take your problems your home."

before Rebekah could stop he had pounced on Craig saying "if anything happens to her, I swear Craig.…" but he was so angry that he was unable to finish his sentence.

Craig said "and make your sister a widow!"

whereas Rebekah said "Nik. what is wrong with you? if Andrea has gone somewhere without telling you then why are you taking it out on Craig. She has been lying to you. I dont know what is wrong with her. Telling lies about her brother. I am his wife. I am telling you he never treated me badly. Maybe she was ashamed of what she caused for our marriage and ran away."

He looked at her for a few minutes an then left.

**_Three months later:_**

Klaus closed his eyes and prayed like every Sunday he has been praying for the last three months "Oh lord if she is dead then show me her body but if she is alive somewhere then keep her save even if she has cheated on me."

His mind was still not willing to accept that she cheated on him. He had torn those letters he recalled. It was better that he believed that she is dead than that she cheated on him. For the first few weeks until he had found those letters each day was difficult for him not being able to find her. He had turned the village upside down but there was no sign of her. Each day was difficult for him and ironically it was Rebekah and Craig who were there for him during that tough time. He didn't feel like seeing Craig but he was Rebekah's husband and he had realized that if he wanted his sister in his life then he had to tolerate Craig too and the fact that he was not hurting Rebekah was playing an important role not to mention that he did look upset with where Andrea had gone. Elijah's visit one month after she disappeared helped a lot. He told Elijah everything that had happened but both brothers couldn't make Rebekah see any sense so they let her be hoping that Rebekah does not have to go through what Andrea went through. On the upside if it were not for them, he would have died by now and then he had found those letters in that poetry book she used to read and he still remembered the anguish he had felt. The fact that the baby was not his had never crossed his mind but now that it was clearly mentioned in those letter, what was he supposed to think. At last he had managed to turn his heart to stone but he was not able to forget her and on Sundays he had been praying for her.

For the past two weeks his worry was increasing as he noticed a bruise mark on Rebekah's arm. When he ask Rebekah "what happened?" she reluctantly admitted that Craig grabbed her arm tight one day making a drop in his stomach. He got worried but Rebekah assured him that it was a one time deal and Craig had apologized for that. She assured him that she will never put her child in harms way and if ever Craig does something to harm her or her child she will leave him. Klaus was not fully satisfied but what could he do. She was his wife after all.

One day Klaus was having breakfast when he realized it was Anna instead of Maria who was serving him. He asked Anna "where is Maria?"

Anna said "she has not been feeling well master."

Klaus said "oh. since when?"

Anna said "yesterday master."

He got up saying "you can go now. I will go and see what has happened to her."

He got on his horse and headed towards his servant's house.

* * *

She dabbed a wet cloth over Maria's head saying "your fever seems to have gotten down Maria."

Maria said "milady, you shouldn't."

She held her hand saying "Maria, let me do it."

She fixed her blanket and stood up slowly when Maria said "the midwife said you need to rest madam. You dont feel well."

She said squeezing her hand "I am fine Maria…" but then stopped as she followed her gaze towards the door. She turned and felt her legs going jelly as she saw him standing at the door.

Klaus couldnt believe what he was seeing. He walked to her taking deliberate slow steps and then he started to get angry as he recalled the anguish he had felt when he had thought that she died. He calmed himself down thinking he was in his servant's home. He took a deep breath before turning to Maria and asked her "how are you feeling Maria?"

Maia looked nervously towards Andrea but said "I am fine sir."

Klaus asked "have you seen a healer?"

She said "master, she is gone."

He spun around and saw Andrea was not there any more. He looked back when Maria said "you need to find her."

He got up saying "I will come later" and ran out.

Andrea was taking fast steps moving away from the house and then she fell in the middle of the crops and started to cry.

**_flashback _**

**_3 months back_**

_Andrea said "Craig please tell me that you are not hitting her."_

_Craig said angrily "you will never find out Andrea. And she will never tell you."_

_Andrea cringed at the hatred on his face and said "Craig, she is your wife and carrying your child."_

_Criag said with contempt "every woman does that. Apparently you are doing that too."_

_She continued "you are supposed to treat her nicely. She has not done anything to be treated like that."_

_Craig said maliciously "you want me to treat her nicely then tell me what you are prepared to do for it?"_

_She asked scared and now regretting coming to him "what do you mean?"_

_Craig said "you leave him."_

_Andrea said terrified now "Craig, what are you saying?"_

_He held her arms and shook her saying "you leave him and I will never lay a hand on Rebekah but if you dont then I will sell her Andrea. Niklaus humiliated me by filing for his divorce. He cannot do that. If he wants divorce for his sister he can only get it by buying his sister or I can always sell her to someone else."_

_Andrea said terrified "no. Please Craig. Dont do this. I…"_

_He shouted "you what? You are the reason I am in this mess. You couldn't take a few beatings."_

_She continued to stare at him in shock and then she said defeated "alright but promise me that you will never hit her."_

_He said "yes I promise. Now leave."_

_She paused for a second at the door but then left._

**_end flashback_**

She looked up when she heard a sound. She could see anger on his face but suddenly thoughts of what will happen to Rebekah flashed through her mind.

He pulled her up and asked controlling his anger "where were you?"

She said "Klaus please let me be."

He said "no." he added in anguish "Please just tell me that you didnt cheat on me. Please. I can see it on your face that you didn't run off with someone so why would you."

She asked shocked "cheated you? Why would you say that?"

Klaus said "I found this letter…"

She asked "what letter?"

He said in anguish "from some man, asking you to run away with him. It said that baby was his too and your disappeared so what was I supposed to think."

He paused just for a moment and then asked in anguish "is this baby mine?"

Andrea was so shocked that her hand swung in the air and landed on his face and she stared to cry.

He held her and asked "then why? Why wouldn't you tell me about the baby and why did you leave me?"

She said crying now "Craig said that if I dont leave you, He will do to Rebekah what he did to me and…"

When he grabbed her arm she continued "and will sell her."

Klaus looked at her in shock and pulled her in a hug saying "I will kill him."

She said "No Klaus, he is Rebekah's husband."

Suddenly her legs gave away and she slid against him but his hands caught her saying "I have got you. I have got you."

As he scooped her close to him he noticed for the first time that her stomach was a bit bigger than last time he had seen her and it swelled his heart to see their child growing in her. He carried her to Maria's house, laid her down and said "James, get my carriage."

When Andrea opened her eyes next time it was dark but the room had light from the oil-lamp and everything was very familiar. She felt him next to her and smiled. She turned towards him but then sat up.

He startled in his sleep when he felt his arm move from her body. He asked "what happened?"

She said "Klaus, Craig will…"

He pulled her back on the bed saying "didnt I tell you never to start a sentence with _'Craig said?'_ Why dont you trust me?"

She said desperately "I trust you but not him."

After some quiet she said "Klaus."

He said "yes."

She said "promise me you will not do anything to Craig."

He said "Andrea he…"

She said "listen, he is not only my brother. He is Rebekah's family. Whatever flaws he has he will remain my brother. He is my blood. We were both made to live that terrible childhood. Sometimes I think that I feel strangely bonded with him because of what we shared when we were kids."

He brought her close to him and said "some day you will tell me about what you went through."

She said "yes some day but not today. Promise me Klaus."

He kept quiet for a moment and then said "I will only keep my promise if he never lays a hand on you and Rebekah."

She said "fair enough."

He asked "how did you end up with Maria?"

She said "I didnt know where to go. I was sitting in our wheat field when she saw me and asked me where I was going. I was so depressed and tired that I couldnt keep this secret any longer so I told her everything. She took me to her room."

He asked "why didnt Maria tell me?"

She said "I told her not. I told her that if she ever told her then I will run away from her house too, which apparently she didnt want. I dont know why would she want to help me?"

He kissed her saying "because you are so wonderful and kind that anyone would want to help you."

His hand moved to her stomach and said "I cannot wait to hold our child. I still cannot believe it that our child is growing in you and you have become more beautiful."

He smiled when she blushed. She linked her arms around his neck, brought him close to her and whispered against his lips before kissing him "I love you Klaus."

His heart skipped a beat at hearing those words after three months. He kissed her saying "I love you too Andrea."

He pulled her close to him and they both drifted off to sleep. Next day seeing her walking in his house doing chores as if last three months never happened was a joyous sight. He forbade all his servants to tell anyone that she was back. Before he knew it a week went by. He made love to her every night and later they laid down in each other's arms and they told each other about their time apart.

A week after her return Andrea was helping Maria in the kitchen when she heard Rebekah yelling "Nik…"

She dashed out hearing the panic in her voice.

Rebekah stopped as she saw Andrea. She exclaimed "Andrea!"

Andrea asked "what is it Rebekah?"

Rebekah asked "where is Klaus. Craig has been bit."

She asked "bit? What do you mean bit?"

She said "by a snake. I need Nik."

Andrea's heart sank and she looked toward Klaus who had walked out of the study too. He nodded and they headed towards Craig house. By the time they reached home Craig condition had gone worse. They looked towards the healer when he said "my regrets. I am unable to help."

He bowed his head looking remorseful and left the room, whereas Klaus noticed that Craig's eyes were fixed on Andrea. He instinctively grabbed her arm.

Craig hissed coughing "you must be glad. It must be your prayers that have been answered."

She started saying "no…" when Klaus squeezed her hand saying "no. Dont say anything. Let him talk. This is punishment from God."

He opened his mouth to say something but white foam started coming out of the corners of his mouth. Rebekah darted to him and started cleaning his mouth with a piece of cloth with tears rolling down her cheek now. Andrea gently pried her arm free of Klaus's grasp and walked to him not knowing that her eyes had tears in them. She knelt down next to him when he suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled them back causing her to scream. Klaus acted swiftly and grabbed his hand. He pulled Andrea away from him. Craig looked towards Rebekah looking at him in shock and said "you think this is bad. You should have seen what our father used to do to our mother and we were made to watch."

Klaus felt Andrea getting stiff next to her. Craig beckoned Rebekah to come near her. As she leaned in he touched her cheek and said with difficulty"I am glad that I never raised my hand on you…. but Rebekah you have no idea how much will power it took ….me in doing so. Every time I felt like hitting you I took it out on her. I never gave it a thought that she…. was hurting thinking she must be used to it by now. She saved you, you know. Deep down I knew what I was doing was wrong but I kept doing it thinking that it might help me not treat my wife that way. That is what I was raised to believe. Treat your wives as your property. I am being paid for my sins. I dont think ….I would have stopped. I was the one who told her to leave Klaus. I am glad she did, I would..nt have stop..ped"

Rebekah felt her heart sinking. She said "no Craig please don't say that."

He shook his head and continued now having trouble talking "no let me speak. I hated what I had become but I couldnt help it. Every time I saw her, something would scream inside me to hit her and it made me feel better. What is so wrong? Women are men's property."

Rebekah said "Craig please, rest. Everything will get better."

She looked towards Klaus helplessly who even though hated Craig with all of his heart couldn't help but feel bad for her. Andrea felt as if her heart would break seeing Rebekah crying with her head resting on Criag's chest. As she watched with sinking heart his eyes fixed on her and he said "Andy…" her heart jumped at the use of his childhood name for her. She walked to him and said "yes Craig."

He said "please forgive me."

She said now crying "I… I forgive you Craig."

He smiled one last time and closed his eyes. Andrea said "Criag…" but he was gone. She felt Klaus's hands on her shoulder. She looked towards Rebekah who was crying really hard now. She held her hand and pulled her in a hug.

Later that night after burying Craig and after settling a very depressed, exhausted and very pregnant Rebekah in her old room in her house she cried herself to sleep in Klaus arms not knowing why she was crying at the death of the person who had spend a major part of his life torturing her.

_**fourteen months later:**_

She looked down at her nine months old son, Hendrik Mikaelson, in her arms and then towards Rebekah dressed in white beautiful dress as she said her wedding vows to Lord Tyler.

She turned towards Klaus holding Emma, their one year old niece and said "I miss him so much. Do you know why?"

He said empathetically "he was your brother."

She said sadly "yes and also because without intending to he did a huge favor to me."

He asked pulling her towards him "what?"

She smiled and said "gotten me married to you."

He said reminiscing the time when he had proposed that deal to him "yes for that I am grateful to him too."

She said "I love you Klaus."

He smiled down at her thinking how openly she had started to express her feelings for him. He leaned in and kissed her saying "I love you too Andrea."

The End:

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A/N: thanks for reading and reviewing it.


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